3Xtreme

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Can 989 Studios beat the sequel rap? These new graphics and many courses point to yes. New screens.

By IGN Staff

Now that the snowboarding genre is fat with (mostly) competent games (and some pathetic piles of crud, too), game companies are eyeing the last vestiges of extreme sports, starting with EA's, and most recently, Activision's, skateboarding games. But back in 1996, SCEA's (now 989 Studios) ESPN Extreme Games was the first one of its kind on the PlayStation to introduce a milieu of sports in one game. Back then, ESPN Extreme was new and cool, even though the game kinda stunk.

After a forgettable sequel, 989 Studios may have hit the nail on the head, with 3Xtreme. But what, you might ask, makes this any better than the previous ones? Fair enough question. We won't try to sell you on it too hard, but the game does sound awesome.

Focusing on just three sports (dropping the street luge from the first iteration), skateboarding, inline skating, and mountain biking, 3Xtreme has ditched the old graphics engine and brought in a new one. 989 Studios is touting this as a state-of-the-art 3D game engine, ditching the sprites of yesteryear, and incorporating a newer level of realism. Characters will look sharper and more detailed, and backgrounds and courses will have a clean, crisp edge to them.

To round out the authenticity of the moves and character realism, 989 Studios hired the 1998 Summer Games gold medalist Andy Macdonald and the popular BMX racer Dave Mirra to motion-capture their moves, and to glean the way real X Games athletes make their magic happen. Their moves, tricks, and consultation should help in honing this game into a "extremely" genuine set of events.

The game's structure appears the same. Players pick their characters and modes of locomotion and then hoof it. As you zip through the many obstacles, checkpoints, gates, jump ramps, and shortcuts, you'll also need a little muscle. Slamming opponents a la Road Rash is a continued theme, and so it pays to know when to attack (hit or kick), or race. Don't be surprised in the later levels if the competition heats up and your first-place position is smacked away by hungry opponents. Knowing short cuts is always key. And for you trick fans, all of the major moves are back, including can-can's, tail whips, kick flips, peg slides, tabletops, methods, and rail slides, among others. In total the game includes 30 tricks, plus "thousands" of combos, spins, grabs, and flips.

As in the past, you win a race, nab the hard-earned moolah, and buy new gear to sharpen your competitiveness. You can buy the faster equipment, more expensive boards, or better built skates and bikes. In fact, the better you get, the more special bonuses open up. With a number of wins to your name, hidden courses, new characters, and secret short cuts open up.

The game has broadened in variety, too. Select from 12 racers in the beginning, as well as three difficulty levels, Rookie, Veteran, and Pro, and then choose from a whopping 22 courses, twice as many as last year's game. Courses range from subways, coastlines, islands, parks, canyons, and mountains.

Having whipped the single-player game, you can then jump into a serious competition with friends in the split-screen, two-player mode. For us, this has been the most enjoyable aspect of the Xtreme series.

Last but not least, 3Xtreme incorporates dual shock compatibility, so wipe-outs, mistakenly-hit objects, and punches from opponents will enable you to "feel the pain."

Scheduled for an spring release, 3Xtreme shows more promise than it ever has in the past. With a new graphics engine and the experience and knowledge from prior Extreme games, this one should be right on the money. Although I'm personally in a state of misery over last year's cadre of unoriginal sequels, I'm truly hoping that 3Xtreme will prove the old adage, "Third time's the charm," undoubtedly correct.